Graeme Barnett
asked on
Out Of Office not functioning externally
SBS (Exchange 2007) Out Of Office is not functioning externally. (It works internally)
Initially I checked that the out of office was enabled in Exchange, and it was. ("Allow external out-of-office messages and 2003 etc" and "allow automatic replies" and forwards on the format tab. This is the case on both the SBS transport and the default. )
I set up 'expert' level logging on MS Exchange for MSExchangeIS -> 9000 Private -> rules, MSExchangeMailboxAssistant
After adding the diagnostic logging a warning appeared in the application event log:
Event 1033
"The rule (1-RULENUMBER) with sequence number 50 is being ignored because it is disabled. The distinguished name of the owning mailbox is USERNAME. Database "First Storage Group\Mailbox Database"
Initially there was only one user and not the user who I was sending the test emails too. I presumed the users rule was corrupt and it was effecting all the other users rules.
I therefore tried using MFCMapi on a workstation to connect to the profile concerned and delete_hard_delete the IPM.Rule.Message entries for the user and that user hasn't appeared again in the event log....yet.
However as the minutes pass more warning events are being logged for other users. I tried deleting the rules for the next user but that user continued to have more warnings when I tested the out of office from an external address, so it didn't resolve the issue.
I have also just had an event warning for a user with sequence number 100. If that means anything?
I'm not sure where to go from here. Help appreciated.
Initially I checked that the out of office was enabled in Exchange, and it was. ("Allow external out-of-office messages and 2003 etc" and "allow automatic replies" and forwards on the format tab. This is the case on both the SBS transport and the default. )
I set up 'expert' level logging on MS Exchange for MSExchangeIS -> 9000 Private -> rules, MSExchangeMailboxAssistant
After adding the diagnostic logging a warning appeared in the application event log:
Event 1033
"The rule (1-RULENUMBER) with sequence number 50 is being ignored because it is disabled. The distinguished name of the owning mailbox is USERNAME. Database "First Storage Group\Mailbox Database"
Initially there was only one user and not the user who I was sending the test emails too. I presumed the users rule was corrupt and it was effecting all the other users rules.
I therefore tried using MFCMapi on a workstation to connect to the profile concerned and delete_hard_delete the IPM.Rule.Message entries for the user and that user hasn't appeared again in the event log....yet.
However as the minutes pass more warning events are being logged for other users. I tried deleting the rules for the next user but that user continued to have more warnings when I tested the out of office from an external address, so it didn't resolve the issue.
I have also just had an event warning for a user with sequence number 100. If that means anything?
I'm not sure where to go from here. Help appreciated.
Run the following, and please post the results from a user who is connected externally:
- Open Outlook
- In the tray (where the clock is) Ctrl-Right Click the Outlook icon and select "Test E-Mail AutoConfiguration"
- Test this with the same username / password that is open with the Outlook client
Please post the results. As the expert above stated, this is most likely an issue with the Availability service which URL is pulled by external AutoDiscover. We would need to see if AutoDiscover externally is working to figure this out though.
- Open Outlook
- In the tray (where the clock is) Ctrl-Right Click the Outlook icon and select "Test E-Mail AutoConfiguration"
- Test this with the same username / password that is open with the Outlook client
Please post the results. As the expert above stated, this is most likely an issue with the Availability service which URL is pulled by external AutoDiscover. We would need to see if AutoDiscover externally is working to figure this out though.
I'm not sure what to tell you about the log errors, but what I have seen so far when users report their out of the office is not working outside but within the organization is that they haven't activated properly the function on their Outlook.
Outlook 2013 for example, you can setup the function to start and finish at a given time automatically and you can even set the function with 2 different messages for within the organization and another one for outside the organization or even not activate the one for outside the organization, more yet you can choose to every single email or just your contacts.
So if you just upgraded your clients and you used to work with 2007 which only needed one message, then this could be your issue.
Outlook 2013 for example, you can setup the function to start and finish at a given time automatically and you can even set the function with 2 different messages for within the organization and another one for outside the organization or even not activate the one for outside the organization, more yet you can choose to every single email or just your contacts.
So if you just upgraded your clients and you used to work with 2007 which only needed one message, then this could be your issue.
ASKER
Sorry, I wasn't very clear, we don't have external users with outlook clients. The problem is that people like yourself send an email to me and you would not receive an out of office reply, but internal staff do get the auto-replys.
I ran the 'test email autoconfiguration' from an internal client and these were the relevant results:
Exchange HTTP
-------------------
Server: remote.ourdomain.com
Login Name: tuser
SSL: Yes
Availability Service URL: https://remote.ourdomain.com/
OOF URL: https://remote.ourdomain.com/
Exchange RPC
-------------------
Server: Internalservername.ourdoma
Availability Service URL: https://remote.ourdomain.com/ews/exchange.asmx
OOF URL: https://remote.ourdomain.com/ews/exchange.asmx
It seems that just producing these results show that autodiscover is working, however, if I try to use Microsoft's Remote Connectivity Analyzer it cannot connect to the auto discovery.
I notice the URLS for Exchange HTTP don't have the full path including the /ews/exchange.asmx. Could that be why it's not working?
I ran the 'test email autoconfiguration' from an internal client and these were the relevant results:
Exchange HTTP
-------------------
Server: remote.ourdomain.com
Login Name: tuser
SSL: Yes
Availability Service URL: https://remote.ourdomain.com/
OOF URL: https://remote.ourdomain.com/
Exchange RPC
-------------------
Server: Internalservername.ourdoma
Availability Service URL: https://remote.ourdomain.com/ews/exchange.asmx
OOF URL: https://remote.ourdomain.com/ews/exchange.asmx
It seems that just producing these results show that autodiscover is working, however, if I try to use Microsoft's Remote Connectivity Analyzer it cannot connect to the auto discovery.
I notice the URLS for Exchange HTTP don't have the full path including the /ews/exchange.asmx. Could that be why it's not working?
ASKER
Hecgomrec,
There have been no recent upgrades to the clients, and they all know how to use outlook. My out of office isn't working either, I've test several now and they don't work, so I'm guessing it effects everyone and isn't a training issue.
There have been no recent upgrades to the clients, and they all know how to use outlook. My out of office isn't working either, I've test several now and they don't work, so I'm guessing it effects everyone and isn't a training issue.
Yes - I would run the commands below and tell us what your URL is..
Thanks!
Get-WebServicesVirtualDirectory | FLThanks!
ASKER
Similar to the above test the internal URL includes the EWS but the external doesn't:
Internal URL: https://remote.EXTERNALSERVERNAME.com\ews\exchange.asmx
External URL: https://remote.EXTERNALSERVERNAME.COM\
Internal URL: https://remote.EXTERNALSERVERNAME.com\ews\exchange.asmx
External URL: https://remote.EXTERNALSERVERNAME.COM\
The assistant must be configured for inside and outside replies, if the outside part is off or is activated only for "My Contacts" the assistant will not sent replies to emails outside the organization, Please check below:
Set out of office with Out of Office Assistant with Exchange Account: (2010-2013)
If you are using an Exchange account, you can auto reply a specified message for the received emails with setting the Out of Office Assistant while you are away. Please do as follows:
1. Click File button in the upper-left corner in outlook 2010, and click Info > Automatic Replies, see screenshot:
Note: If you do not see this Automatic Replies option, your outlook have not connected to an Exchange Server.
2. In the Automatic Replies dialog box, select the Send automatic replies:
(1.) Check the Only send during this time range, and then specify the Start time and End time you need to auto reply
the message.
(2.) Then type your message at the space box.
3. If you want to send auto-reply message to external senders, click on the Outside My Organization tab and check the Auto-reply to people outside my organization option.
4. Click OK to activate the out of office message.
See it here with pics (first part):
http://www.extendoffice.com/documents/outlook/484-outlook-2010-how-to-set-out-of-office-in-outlook-2010.html
Set out of office with Out of Office Assistant with Exchange Account: (2010-2013)
If you are using an Exchange account, you can auto reply a specified message for the received emails with setting the Out of Office Assistant while you are away. Please do as follows:
1. Click File button in the upper-left corner in outlook 2010, and click Info > Automatic Replies, see screenshot:
Note: If you do not see this Automatic Replies option, your outlook have not connected to an Exchange Server.
2. In the Automatic Replies dialog box, select the Send automatic replies:
(1.) Check the Only send during this time range, and then specify the Start time and End time you need to auto reply
the message.
(2.) Then type your message at the space box.
3. If you want to send auto-reply message to external senders, click on the Outside My Organization tab and check the Auto-reply to people outside my organization option.
4. Click OK to activate the out of office message.
See it here with pics (first part):
http://www.extendoffice.com/documents/outlook/484-outlook-2010-how-to-set-out-of-office-in-outlook-2010.html
ASKER
Thanks hecgomrec, we are using Outlook 2007 and it's setup correctly.
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If OOF is working internally and not just externally, could you let me know if the Autodiscover is working externally.
The Outlook Connect to the OOF URL using Autodiscover service
Alternatively you can also try to check the external URL for EWS
Are you able to set OOF and just OOF message are not getting delivered??